PARIS 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS

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From Pro Bowl Games to the Olympics, flag football enticing NFL players​


As the world's greatest collection of tackle football players gathered in the Florida sunshine, you might expect their pursuit of a Lombardi Trophy to be top of mind. But with flag football now featured in the Pro Bowl Games, and with the much-anticipated inclusion of men's and women's flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, how about a gold medal? Flag football games on Sunday could decide the winner of the Pro Bowl Games (3-6 p.m. ET, live on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+). The idea of NFL players participating on a flag football Olympic team was well received among Pro Bowlers this week, similar to the reaction of NBA players when Olympic participation was opened to American professional basketball players in 1992.

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reports: pay of parish olympics comm. president under scritiny
According to French media, quoting the French agency AFP on Tuesday, the investigation into Tony Estanguet's pay was handed to Paris police last week, less than six months before the Olympic Games open on July 26. The headquarters were first searched in June.

china extends winning streak in men's synchro diving at worlds
At the Olympics, the team acrobatic, technical and free events are combined together into one artistic swimming team competition. Men have competed in artistic swimming at the world championships since 2015 -- when the sport was still known as synchronized swimming -- and they will be allowed to be part of Olympic teams for the first time this year in Paris.
 

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U.S. names team to play in pre-Olympic qualifying tournament​


The U.S., which has already qualified for the Olympics thanks to a gold-medal finish at the 2022 World Cup, will open play against host Belgium on Thursday. More than 14,000 tickets have been sold for that game, and coach Cheryl Reeve expects a loud crowd that will be rooting for the home team. The Americans will have another training camp at the Final Four in Cleveland in April before getting together right before the Olympics in Phoenix for a few days.

Five-time Olympic champion Diana Taurasi was selected Sunday as part of the U.S. national team that will play in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium this week. Taurasi is one of seven former Olympians on the roster. She's joined by Ariel Atkins, Naphessa Colier, Jewel Loyd Kelsey Breanna Srewart and Jackie Young. Additionally, 2022 World Cup champions Kahleah Cooper, sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas will be part of the team. Alyiah Boston and Rhyme round out the squad. Both players will be making their debuts with the senior national team.

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USA Basketball names Thibault, Lawson, Taylor assistant coaches​


Mike Thibault, Kara Lawson and Joni Taylor will serve as assistant coaches for the women's national team as it goes for gold this summer at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, USA Basketball announced Tuesday. The assistants, who will serve under head coach Cheryl Reeve, were selected by the USA Basketball women's national team committee and represent the same staff that helped Team USA win gold at the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Australia. Thibault -- an assistant on the 2008 Olympic team -- is the winningest coach in WNBA history. He retired in 2022 and currently serves as general manager of the Washington Mystics. Lawson and Taylor, meanwhile, are both currently coaching at the collegiate level, at Duke and Texas A&M, respectively. After qualifying for Paris with its gold medal finish at the 2022 World Cup, the U.S. national team will go for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal and 11th overall. The team's roster will be named in the coming months.

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tyres haliburton, anthony davis committed tp play in paris
USA Basketball has not confirmed any official invitations yet, and even if the team was announced now, it surely would change by the time training camp starts in July because of injuries or players dropping out after a grueling playoff run.
 

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Boxer Manny Pacquiao, 45, can't compete at Paris Olympics​


The International Olympic Committee will not change its rules to let boxing great Manny Pacquiao compete at the Paris Games aged five years beyond the entry limit. Pacquiao, who retired in 2021, wanted to box at age 45 in the Olympic tournament in Paris, where medal bouts will be held in the Roland Garros tennis complex. The IOC said Sunday it wrote to Olympic officials in Philippines explaining the age limit for boxers of 40 will be upheld. The IOC now oversees Olympic boxing after derecognizing the International Boxing Association governing body. Pacquiao ended his storied career in September 2021 at age 42 after 72 fights, winning 12 world titles at a record eight different weight divisions.

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Gabby Douglas will return to competitive gymnastics this month as she targets 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris​

Douglas, 28, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA


Gabby Douglas is back, and she's not backing down from her most ambitious goals yet. Speaking on NBC News' "Hallie Jackson Now", Douglas, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, who became the first Black gymnast to win the all-around Olympic gold in 2012, announced that she's returning to competitive gymnastics for the first time in nearly a decade. She will return to competition at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 24. It will be her first competition since the 2016 Rio Olympics, though she announced her return to the sport in deneral in August 2023.

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russian olympic committee loses appeal against 10c suspension
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday that it had dismissed the ROC's appeal against the suspension imposed in October. The IOC objected to the ROC incorporating four sports bodies representing regions of eastern Ukraine, which it calls "a breach of the Olympic Charter".


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Russia was already barred by the IOC from entering athletes for the Paris Olympics under its own flag, and the suspension doesn't stop the IOC's efforts for Russians to compete as neutral athletes without national symbols.
 

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a'ja wilson, wnba's to play exhibition vs. puerto rico
The Aces take on Puerto Rico, among the 12 teams that will compete for Olympic gold at this year's Paris Games.


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Wilson played at South Carolina from 2015-18, helping the team to two Final Fours and the 2017 national championship. She was a three-time All-American and three-time Southeastern Conference player of the year.
 

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Khaman Maluach, top big man in 2024 class, commits to Duke​


Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center from the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, told ESPN that he has committed to Duke. Maluach picked Duke after also taking official visits to Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA, as well as offers from G League Ignite and the Australian NBL's Next Stars program. He will headline the World team at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon, next month, giving him a chance to compete against Flagg, Ngongba and Evans for the first time. He was MVP of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp last summer, and then was named playoff and defensive MVP at the BWB Global camp in Indianapolis during All-Star Weekend last month.

Maluach helped his native country of South Sudan qualify for the Paris Olympics this summer as a 16-year-old, becoming one of the youngest players in FIBA World Cup history. He was MVP of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp last summer, and then was named playoff and defensive MVP at the BWB Global camp in Indianapolis during All-Star Weekend last month. Maluach is considered the best prospect to come out of the NBA Academy Africa, established in 2017, and hopes to become the first program graduate to be drafted. The NBA currently has four academies: in Delhi, India; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and Saly, Senegal; as well as its Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, which serves as the hub for elite prospects.

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2024 hopman canceled over proximity to parish olympics
The mixed team event was due to take place again in Nice, France, after its successful return last year, when Croatia beat Switzerland in the final. "With both the Hopman Cup and Olympic Games due to take place in France this year, hitting pause on the Hopman Cup until 2025 is a sensible decision," ITF president David Haggerty said.



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The Hopman Cup was held in Australia ahead of the Australian Open from 1989 until 2019. After a three-year hiatus, it resumed in France last year. The Olympic tennis event begins on July 27.
 

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Medvedev prepared to play as neutral athlete in Paris Games​


World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev says he is excited about competing at the Paris Olympics and will follow the rules as a neutral athlete after the sport's governing body announced its decision on players from Russia and Belarus on Wednesday. The International Tennis Federation said players from the two countries could take part in the Paris Games as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems. Russians and Belarusians were banned from competing internationally following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been used as a staging ground. In March last year, however, the International Olympic Committee issued a set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow competitors from these countries to return.

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Russian, Belarusian tennis players can enter Olympics as neutrals​


Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be allowed to enter the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris as neutrals, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) confirmed Wednesday. The ITF said players from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to enter in "an individual and neutral capacity" if they met the selection and eligibility requirements as well as comply with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations. "The ITF decision aligns with the majority of International Federations (IFs) regarding individual competition and athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Games this summer," the tennis world governing body said in a statement. The neutral athletes will compete without flags, emblems or anthems. Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military. Tennis players already compete on the ATP/WTA tours as neutrals.

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a'ja wilson, wnba aces to play exhibition game vs. puerto rico
The Aces take on Puerto Rico, among the 12 teams that will compete for Olympic gold at this year's Paris Games.Wilson played at South Carolina from 2015-18, helping the team to two Final Fours and the 2017 national championship. She was a three-time All-American and three-time Southeastern Conference player of the year.
 

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4 countries face tougher drug testing ahead of Paris Olympics​


Athletes from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal will face more stringent out-of-competition (OOC) testing to be eligible for the Paris Olympics as their national testing programs are not sufficient, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Monday. The decision comes after the World Athletics Council approved the recommendations from the AIU board to impose "tougher testing requirements on those federations" before the Olympics begin on July 26. "The four federations received clear warnings from the AIU about the insufficiency of their national testing programs after the World Athletics Championships 2022 in Eugene," the AIU said in a statement.

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Peyton Manning joins NBC's Paris Olympics opening ceremony coverage​


NFL legend Peyton Manning and singer Kelly Clarkson will bring a new flavor to NBC Universal's upcoming Paris Olympics coverage this summer. Manning and Clarkson are expected to join Mike Tirico to host the opening ceremony, the network announced Tuesday night. The ceremony's live coverage will air July 26 on NBC and Peacock at noon ET.

Organizers said the opening ceremony of the Olympics along the Seine will be held during sunset. It's the first time an Olympic opening ceremony will be held outside a stadium setting, in line with the Paris organizers' motto: "Games Wide Open." About 10,500 athletes will parade through the heart of the French capital on boats on the Seine along a 3.7-mile route.

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Russia won't boycott Paris Games, nation's Olympic chief says​


The Russian Olympic Committee will not boycott this year's Paris Games, its president said Thursday, despite restrictions on athletes imposed by the International Olympic Committee as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. The IOC will allow Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sports for the Paris Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, to take part as neutral athletes without their countries' flags, emblems or national anthems.

Neutral athletes will compete only in individual sports, and no teams for the two countries will be allowed. Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military. During the Cold War, the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union and its allies retaliated with a boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

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PARIS 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS​

 
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